English Dictionary

FIERCE

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fierce mean? 

FIERCE (adjective)
  The adjective FIERCE has 4 senses:

1. marked by extreme and violent energyplay

2. marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervidplay

3. ruthless in competitionplay

4. violently agitated and turbulentplay

  Familiarity information: FIERCE used as an adjective is uncommon.


 Dictionary entry details 


FIERCE (adjective)

 Declension: comparative and superlative 
Comparative: fiercer  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Superlative: fiercest  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation


Sense 1

Meaning:

Marked by extreme and violent energy

Synonyms:

ferocious; fierce; furious; savage

Context example:

a furious battle

Similar:

violent (acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity)

Derivation:

fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)


Sense 2

Meaning:

Marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid

Synonyms:

fierce; tearing; trigger-happy; vehement; violent

Context example:

violent passions

Similar:

intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)

Derivation:

fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)


Sense 3

Meaning:

Ruthless in competition

Synonyms:

bowelless; cutthroat; fierce

Context example:

bowelless readiness to take advantage

Similar:

merciless; unmerciful (having or showing no mercy)

Derivation:

fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)


Sense 4

Meaning:

Violently agitated and turbulent

Synonyms:

boisterous; fierce; rough

Context example:

rough seas

Similar:

stormy ((especially of weather) affected or characterized by storms or commotion)

Derivation:

fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)


 Context examples 


Mate lost temper with one of them that day and struck him. Expected fierce quarrel, but all was quiet.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A hard, fierce man, I should think, and one whom I should be sorry to offend.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Very glad he was to get safely past them, for, with their bristling red beards and their fierce blue eyes, they were uneasy men to bargain with upon a lonely moor.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then he laughed about her, and asked me if I had ever seen such a fierce little piece of incomprehensibility.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It was a very fierce storm; the sea broke strange and dangerous.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

In the meantime the astonished team-dogs had burst out of their nests only to be set upon by the fierce invaders.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Then suddenly, with a fierce gesture of his closed hand, like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They had long legs and fierce eyes and sharp teeth.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The fierce old man said nothing, but still glared at my companion.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She will get her business back into shape because she retained all of her clients and is fierce about fulfilling her promises to them.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"One doctor makes work for another." (English proverb)

"Where there are bees, there is honey." (Albanian proverb)

"Bread and cheese, eat and dance." (Armenian proverb)

"He who leads an immoral life dies an immoral death." (Corsican proverb)



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